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The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe
Author(s): . (Author)
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Publication Date: 15 Aug. 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 608 pages
- ISBN-10: 184706096X
- ISBN-13: 9781847060969
Book Description
The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe offers a full historical survey of Dickens’s reception in all the major European countries and many of the smaller ones, filling a major gap in Dickens scholarship, which has by and large neglected Dickens’s fortunes in Europe, and his impact on major European authors and movements. Essays by leading international critics and translators give full attention to cultural changes and fashions, such as the decline of Dickens’s fortunes at the end of the nineteenth century in the period of Naturalism and Aestheticism, and the subsequent upswing in the period of Modernism, in part as a consequence of the rise of film in the era of Chaplin and Eisenstein. It will also offer accounts of Dickens’s reception in periods of political upheaval and revolution such as during the communist era in Eastern Europe or under fascism in Germany and Italy in particular.
Editorial Reviews
Review
[An] outstanding new collection of essays … Michael Hollington’s collection is a major contribution to the field, offering a definitive account of the great novelist’s standing in both the academy and popular culture.
Times Literary Supplement
CHOICE
Victoriographies
Times Literary Supplement
As Hollington reveals in his introduction, this monumental work (part of Bloomsbury’s ‘Reception of British and Irish Authors in Europe’ series) grew out of Ada Nisbet’s uncompleted ‘International Guide to the Study of Dickens, ‘ which was itself an outgrowth of her essay in
Victorian Fiction: A Guide to Research, ed. By Lionel Stevenson (CH, Jan’65). The 40 essays – on translation, cricital commentary, literary influence, and adaptations – provide fascinating reading as the contributors (each an expert in the field) trace the ups and downs of the novelists reputation, reflecting the changing tastes in literature. The geographic areas included are Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Slavonic countries, the Baltic, the Balkans, and Hungary. There is also a chapter on film and television. A time line shows the dates of first translations of works into various languages. A 79-page bibliography provides a wealth of sources for further research. Though even the casual student is aware of Dickens’s taking the English-speaking world by storm, this valuable study gives good insight into his international popularity and brings the reader to realize that Dickens was and is a writer of global significance. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.CHOICE
One of the most significant contributions to Dickens studies in recent years, Michael Hollington’s
The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe (2013) examines Dickens’s influence across Europe in a two-volume study that is remarkable in the depth and breadth its coverage achieves … This is, however, a slight omission in a work that is otherwise so comprehensive in its undertaking; The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe marks an important advancement in the internationalism of Dickens studies, establishing a wealth of new directions for understanding Dickens’s lasting legacy across Europe and in turn, it is hoped, beyond.Victoriographies
About the Author
Michael Hollington is Professor of English at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail 2 (having retired from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 2002). He is editor of Charles Dickens: Critical Assessments (Helm Information 1996).
